The invention relates generally to liquid-fueled rockets. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and an arrangement for conveying the liquid fuel of a liquid-fueled rocket from the storage tanks of the rocket to the combustion chambers of the latter.
The fuel components of a liquid-fueled rocket, that is, the combustible component and the oxidizer constituting the liquid fuel, must be forced into the power plant of the rocket by suitable conveying means. In the known rockets of this type, this is accomplished by pumping or by pressurizing the storage tanks for the fuel components.
Various methods have been proposed and used for pressurizing the fuel components in the storage tanks. In these methods, the fuel components are subjected to the action of a pressure gas which latter is, for example, produced by a separate gas generator or a separate solid-gas generator.
The known methods have several disadvantages. The use of pumps is expensive and structurally prohibitive and, in addition, decreases the useful pay load of the rocket because of the weight of the pumps.
Where a pressure gas is used for conveying the fuel components from the storage tanks to the combustion chambers, it is necessary to provide separate containers for the fuel required to generate the pressure gas and it is also necessary to provide a gas generator. In addition, the methods using a pressure gas require an active regulating circuit for regulating the quantity of pressure gas to be introduced into the storage tanks.
In all of the known methods for conveying the fuel components via pressurization, the requisite energy for conveying the fuel components is supplied to the storage tanks from an external source. These methods are expensive and require additional fuel for generating the pressure gas as well as valves, conduits, generators and additional fuel containers. Aside from the structural and operational difficulties associated with the use of these methods, their use causes an increase in the weight of the rocket and, hence, a reduction in the useful pay load.